Typically, gas turbine engines include a compressor for compressing air, a combustor for mixing the compressed air with fuel and igniting the mixture, and a turbine blade assembly for producing power. Combustors often operate at high temperatures that may exceed 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. Typical turbine combustor configurations expose turbine combustor components to these high temperatures. These turbine combustor components are inspected for damage during outages to prevent catastrophic failure.
The current standard inspection is conducted using a video scope and a highly trained technician or engineer that has the skills and dexterity to manipulate a camera into and out of a component requiring inspection. The process of inspecting a particular area of a combustor component requires pushing and twisting a flexible conduit to the area of concern and manipulating a four-way articulation system to get the desired view for the inspection. Due to the manual process of positioning the camera, capturing the same data with high repeatability is very low, if not impossible. The standard inspection is performed at a resolution of 640 H×480 V pixels with varying optics to increase or decrease magnification. The technician or engineer must be familiar with all potential discontinuities in order to ensure complete visual documentation of all critical areas. The inspection is heavily dependent on the ability and knowledge of the technician or engineer performing the inspection. The technician or engineer has to be an expert and has to be onsite for data interpretation and reporting. Thus, such system suffers from a low quality because of low repeatability.